View from the car, near the Point Arena lighthouse

What can you do on a blustery day on the Northern California coast? A day when the cold wind blows so hard it’s impossible to cast a line into the water, hard to even go for a hike along the coastal plain, difficult to wrestle a car along the winding shoreline highway. One thing you might do is bundle up in your winter jacket and venture out to play with your camera, trying to capture the wind-blown motion of the bushes and trees. And you may not succeed very well, but at least it got you outdoors for a few minutes.

And if you’re bored enough to get in the car and drive out Lighthouse Road to the windiest spot in town so you can park and watch the wild ocean waves and feel the car shuddering with each gust of wind, you might just be lucky enough to spot something perched far out on the cliff edge. Something almost too far away for a clear shot. Something that looks very much like… a Peregrine falcon.